Fam is the debut album by Christos Barbas – ney & piano – and Nabil Naïr – clarinet & piano. Fam means hunger in Catalan, فم – mouth in Arabic, femme is woman in French; these diverse yet intertwined meanings resonate as a triangle at the heart of the project. In times of social unrest, inequality, and uncertainty, when longing and disbelief are felt everywhere, Fam reflects a juxtaposition between a profound personal desire for change, creation, and connection, and a wider awareness of humanity in crisis and the fragility of the natural world. Across the album, themes of place, memory, childhood, loss, freedom, and vulnerability emerge subtly in each composition, never overstated yet deeply present.

Their roots also form a triangle that shapes their sound – Christos from Greece and Nabil from Morocco, both based in Spain – while their music, composed entirely of original works, is embedded in – yet at the same time transcends – geographic and cultural borders. The pieces were rehearsed, prepared, and recorded over the past years in Barcelona, in a kind of sheltered “low-heat” timing that allowed the duo to cultivate the sound and connection they envisioned: a quiet yet alert field of listening.

Through alternating meditative passages and fast-moving, intricate rhythms, modal melodies, and textural improvisations, the album reflects a world in motion – intimate yet expansive, contemplative yet restless – where composition and improvisation become a space for reflection, resilience, and the expression of an urgent – hungry – sometimes even angry cry for a more humane and less destructive future. Christos, moving between ney and piano, and Nabil, alternating between clarinet and piano, create a dialogue of shifting roles and timbres that gives each piece openness and fluidity. Paraphrasing the Franco-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, what makes them who they are – and not someone else – is that they exist somewhere straddling different lands, multiple languages, and a wide range of musical traditions. That is their identity.